During a Sunday afternoon bike ride, John & I were discussing the relative lack of traffic in town, compared to the previous week's crowds from the Cherry Festival and the Fourth of July weekend. We figured that lots of people had been using the Boardman River for tubing and paddling in the past few weeks and that it probably needed a cleaning. It was spotless in early June, when we last cleaned it, but it's summertime up north! So I made some phone calls, posted the trip at about 5 PM Sunday, and four other people responded to our call for assistance on Monday: Gerald, Susan, Bert and Fred. It made a terrific team.
It rained a bit Monday morning, but we saw that the front was moving through quickly, and lo and behold, the drops quit falling right before we left the house to head to Shumsky. Thanks to Fred and Bert for their pre-shuttle, we were on the water by 1:15 and off by 3:30. Highlights included the usual assortment of liquor containers, both full and empty, plus chip bags, sweatshirts, a waterproof stereo speaker, and a bunch of broken glass. We were careful to tie up the bag that contained the glass. Everyone had a kayak, so decks were pretty full and stuff also went inside cockpits.
Gerald and John deserve special mention since they hauled out the biggest items of the day: a few ten or twelve foot sections of vinyl house siding. The stuff was so big that it wouldn't fit in the trash bin at Beitner. So on the way home, we stopped to chat with the DNR conservation officer (the office is on the NE corner of Garfield and Birmley) to discuss the disposal of the trash.
It was a great way to spend a sunny afternoon!
Report by Lois, pics by John
Sue with her collection of trash
Gerry with the siding tied on the back and the trash in his cockpit
Fred with his trash
Lois - most of her trash was inside the cockpit
Fred demonstrates how to get out at a dock and keep your feet dry
Our group (with John behind the camera) and the trash